Thread regarding Wells Fargo & Co. layoffs

I'd like to know how to get ON the layoff list. Seriously.

I'm ready to retire, and have invested well. Now I'm just hanging around not doing much anymore at WF and not having fun anymore. For me, a layoff would be welcome.

But there are others on my team who couldn't afford to get a layoff. For them, a layoff would be a disaster.

@2erd+1fOu7jCU Thanks for confirming that more years of service meant less chance of layoff. If done the other way then I suspect they would have a real risk of age (protected class) discrimination lawsuits since the longer you are here the older you are.

@1iil+1fOu7jCU
More years of services meant you were less likely to be displaced. The more recently you were hired the more likely you would be laid off. I don’t think this formula is universal though that was just how it was determined in this particular staff reduction.

@cft+1fOu7jCU - I feel like I could have written your post exactly. I wonder if we worked for the same woman?

“… layoff was determined by a stack ranking of employees that was weighted 60% performance ratings and 40% years of service.”

So is more years of service favorable to the employee (to not get laid off)? Or more years of service truly puts you on the layoff list?

The replies here are pretty thoughtful and thorough. Way to go, guys! (i'm not being sarcastic)

I was laid off a few months ago. I wasn't shocked, though.
I went from winning the Golden Spokes award and receiving the biggest bonus I ever received to the next year getting the worst review I've ever received (mid year) and then was laid off a few months later. I still had the same job, just a different manager who was generally despised by the team. But her boss thought she was the best, so that's all that mattered. I know when she was re-orged, a couple of people on her new team told their manager 'If you layer me under this person, I'm leaving'

So it's hard to tell in some cases. It came up on me super fast but when it happened, I wasn't shocked based on the midyear review.

I’ve been involved in 2 types of layoffs as a manager. The first was a staff reduction layoff and the second was a position elimination layoff.
Staff reduction layoffs you will never see coming. We get about a weeks notice and there were no obvious warning signs. In fact we were hiring for the positions being reduced right up until we got the notice and some people got layer off their first week on the job. The staff reduction layoff was determined by a stack ranking of employees that was weighted 60% performance ratings and 40% years of service.
The position elimination layoff was more obvious. We stopped replacing people who had a specific job title and were encouraged to help people with that title find new jobs within the organization. As the layoff date got closer that pressure was ramped up significantly but we still weren’t officially informed until 2 weeks before.
If your being “managed out you’ll know it, you’ll be placed on performance plans and receive progressively harsher formal corrective action notices until there’s enough documentation to fire you not lay you off.

Managers most recently (Since Chainsaw arrived) rarely know it is coming and are given the names that will be involved in the layoff. It is not a choice your direct manager always has input into. Filing or not filing the position is a discussion for afterwards depending on how work gets shifted and offshore is first choice most of the time.

A layoff at WF is the same as a layoff anywhere.

We are often not allowed to give any sign someone is on a list to be laid off, even if we had to make a choice to put them there. Sometimes we do not have a choice and it’s made from management above us.

Often times the person being laid off isn’t scheduled to be replaced. In instances like that it can vary from LOB to LOB but the decision of where to move that job or where to hire from isn’t made by us.

I’ve been told I have to pick 2 names to add to a list of possible layoffs, or I have to reduce staff by a certain percentage. We use a spreadsheet that has a formula - years worked for us, age, scores from review, etc. it’s not used as much anymore but that used to be the main way we decided.
If we give them a heads up and anyone finds out - there’s a good chance we would lose our job too, so it’s rarely done.

As far as managing out - I’ve never done that. It’s usually already in performance reviews but I’ve never purposely made it harder on the employee to get them to quit and I have not been pressured to come up with reasons to fire them.

A layoff at WF is the same as a layoff anywhere.

We are often not allowed to give any sign someone is on a list to be laid off, even if we had to make a choice to put them there. Sometimes we do not have a choice and it’s made from management above us.

Often times the person being laid off isn’t scheduled to be replaced. In instances like that it can vary from LOB to LOB but the decision of where to move that job or where to hire from isn’t made by us.

I’ve been told I have to pick 2 names to add to a list of possible layoffs, or I have to reduce staff by a certain percentage. We use a spreadsheet that has a formula - years worked for us, age, scores from review, etc. it’s not used as much anymore but that used to be the main way we decided.
If we give them a heads up and anyone finds out - there’s a good chance we would lose our job too, so it’s rarely done.

As far as managing out - I’ve never done that. It’s usually already in performance reviews but I’ve never purposely made it harder on the employee to get them to quit and I have not been pressured to come up with reasons to fire them.

you are right where your manager wants you to be - fearful and marginalized.

If you feel that you are on the bubble, then you probably are.